14 August 2010

(CNN) -- The one really big question hanging over President Obama's weekend vacation to Panama City, Florida, now has an answer.

Will he or won't he dive into the water to send a message that the Gulf Coast is back?

The answer: He will, and sooner than expected.

"I think we're going to go tomorrow and as I just said Ed, I'm not going to let you guys take a picture of me with my shirt off," Obama jokingly told CNN Saturday. "You guys will tease me just like last time. I was on the front page ... People commenting."

But just hours later, a photo was published on the White House Flickr page showing a smiling President Obama and his daughter Sasha taking a dip in the Gulf waters off Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Florida.

No reporters or press cameras were present for the swim, but the image will nonetheless send a message that the White House has sought to convey with the first family's trip: the Gulf Coast is open for business. ~ read more emphasis added